Holder and dispenser for erasers



Feb. 17, 1970 JQE. GIBA ET Al. 3,495,292

HOLDER AND DISPENSER' FOR ERASERS Filed march 29. 196s FIG. 4

INVENTORS JOHN E. GIBA DAVID P. SHIELDS BY wwf AGENT U.S. Cl. 15-433 United States Patent C 3,495,292 v HOLDER AND DISPENSER FOR ERASERS John E. Giba, 1501 Brownlee Ave., Youngstown, Ohio 44514, and David P. Shields, 564 Franklin Ave., Hubbard, Ohio 44425 Filed Mar. 29, 1968, Ser. No. 717,101 Int. Cl. B43l 19/00 1 Claim ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A holder for an eraser to be used by accountants, draftsmen, typists, etc. which has an outer casing and an inner tube holding a length of eraser. The lower end of the inner tube has a non-flexible extension to prevent bending of the working end of the eraser. A thumb-operated feed wheel, provided with a pawl and ratchet assembly, is provided to feed the eraser to the open end of the tube and to prevent the eraser from moving upward in the tube when in Iuse.

This invention relates to an improved holder and dispenser for erasers such as are used by accountants, draftsmen, typists, and the like. More particularly, this invention relates to an improved method of holding and feeding the eraser in such a dispenser.

When it is necessary to make erasures on precision work such as drawings, typing, and the like it is now necessary to use a metal or hard plastic shield to prevent the erasing of marks' other than those to be removed from the work. These shields either are opaque or become opaque after short use, making it diflicult to determine when the shield is properly positioned on the work. Without the use of the shield it is very diliicult to preserve marks which it is desired to retain in the vicinity of the desired correction as the cross-sectional area of available erasers are substantial and as the erasers are iiexible making it difficult to confine their application to a small area.

It is the primary object of our invention to provide holder and dispenser for an eraser of small cross-sectional area and without the use of a shield while yet permitting precise control of the eraser. It is also an object of our invention to provide an eraser holder and dispenser which is of simple, economical construction and which is reliable in operation.

The above and other objects and advantages of our invention will become apparent upon consideration of the following specification and the accompanying drawing wherein there is illustrated a preferred embodiment of our invention.

In the drawing:

FIGURE l is a side elevational view of the eraser holder and dispenser of our invention;

FIGURE 2 is a longitudinal view, in section, of the eraser holder and dispenser, taken along the line II-II of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a transverse view, also in section, taken along the line III-III of FIGURE l;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged, fragmentary, elevational view of the eraser feeding wheel used in the assembly of FIGURE 1; and

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary sectional view, similar to that of FIGURE 2, but showing a modified form of our 3,495,292 Patented Feb. 17, 1970 small diameter hollow tubular member 13 which may be joined to the outer casing 10 by struts 14 and 15, if desired. Extending outwardly from the forward tapered end portion 12 of the casing 10 and also in coaxial relationship with the casing 10 and the tube 13 is a'short tube 16, preferably of steel or other non-iiexible material. A cylindrical length of eraser 17 is received in the bore of tubes 13 and 16 and protrudes from the open end of the tube 16. The tapered forward end portion 12 of casing 10 is provided with a rectangular opening 18 and the tube 13 is provided with a similar opening 19 in alignment with the opening 18. A feed wheel 20= is received within these openings and carried by a shaft or pin 21. The wheel 20 is preferably of an hour-glass configuration as shown in FIGURE 3. The wheel 20 protrudes above the casing 10 and, when moved by the users thumb is operative to move the eraser 17 into or out of the tubes 13 and 16. In order to prevent the eraser from moving upwardly in the tubes 13 and 16 when in use we provide a pawl and ratchet mechanism in cooperation with the wheel 20 to lock the wheel against counter-clockwise rotation (when viewed from the position of FIGURE 2) and thus restrain the eraser from upward movement. A second rectangular opening 22 is provided in the casing 10 and a pawl 24 is mounted in this opening so that the end of the pawl engages the wheel 20. A spring 25 is provided to hold the pawl 24 in the desired position. The pawl is provided with a lug 23 which projects through the opening 22 and which may be moved by the user to disengage the pawl 24 from the wheel 20 to permit a new eraser to be fed into the tubes 16 and 13 from the forward end of the holder. As willbe seen in FIGURE 4, the drive wheel 20 has ratchet teeth 26 on its circumference to engage the tip of the pawl 24. These teeth 26 also aid in assuring a firm grip between the feed wheel 20 and the eraser 17. The hollow portion 28 between the outer casing 10 and the inner tube 13 may be used for storing additional erasers, if desired.

In the embodiment of our invention shown in FIGURE 5 a modified form of locking arrangement of the wheel 20 is shown. In this embodiment, a short length of spring Wire 29 is inserted through a hole in the tapered end portion 12' of the casing 10. The inner end of the spring wire 29 engages the ratchet teeth of the wheel 20 which is of a configuration similar to that of the wheel 20. In this embodiment new lengths of erasers 17 are fed from the upper end of the tube 13 rather than through the tube 16' as in the rst illustrated embodiment.

As only a short length of eraser 17 need be extended beyond the tube 16, and as the tube 16 is rigid and holds the eraser 17 against bending, the user has precise control of the eraser and is capable of doing erasing on precision drawings and the like without the necessity of using a shield. As the protruding end of the eraser 17 is worn down, the user merely turns the wheel 20 a small amount exposing another short length of eraser for use. In the rst illustrated embodiment, the user may also move the pawl mechanism upwardly and then retract the eraser 17 into the holder if desired, when no longer using the eraser.

We claim:

1. A holder and dispenser for an eraser of a cylindrical nature, comprising: an elongated hollow tubular casing tapered at one end; a hollow tubular member of smaller diameter than the diameter of said casing extending coaxially thereto and secured to said casing at the tapered end thereof, the bore of said inner tube extending through the tapered end of said outer casing; an hour-glass shaped wheel journaled on a pin carried by said outer casing and extending through an opening in said outer casing and through an opening in said hollow tubular member 3 4 to engage the surface of a length of eraser received Y :851,893 4/ 1907 Lippincott 401-84 within said bore of said inner tube, said Wheel having 903,873 11/ 1908 -Lamson 401-84 XR a ratchet tooth configuration on its circumference; and 1,363,876 12/ 1920 Hunter 15-429 av pawl slideably mounted within said outer casing and 2,039,466 5/ 1936 Wahl 401-55 moveable from a first position engaging the ratchet teeth 5 2,173,279 9/ 1939 Kraemer 401-84 of said wheel to prevent the movement of said Wheel in 2,293,343 8/ 1942 Jacobs 401-84 one direction to a second position free of said Wheel per- 3,049,095 8/ 1962 Murray 15--433 XR mitting said Wheel to be freely rotated in either direction.

FOREIGN PATENTS References Cited lo 279,700 11/ 1927 Great Bntam.

UNITED STATES PATENTS DANIEL BLUM, Primary Examiner 552,265 12/1895 smith 15-433XR t 613,452 11/1898 Lippincott 401-84 U.S.C1.X.R. l 849,799 4/1907 Lippincott 4in-s4 15 4ins4 

